As I said in an earlier post, I recently finished reading the book All Over Creation. It was set in the year 1999, and mentioned that year's WTO protests.

I've been thinking, where have those protests gone? Remember how so many different groups of people got together in opposition to the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank -- like labor unions, environmentalists, religious groups, women's groups, farmers... just about everybody who wasn't anybody joined forces. Then, all of a sudden, they dissipated.

They didn't disappear entirely, as the demonstrations in Cancun in 2003 illustrate. (Curiously, that website claims "the protests outside on the street also contributed directly to the fall of the WTO," yet the WTO appears to be alive and well and living in Switzerland.)

Why the shift in focus away from the disastrous effects of Globalization? As Rudy would say, 9-11. And Iraq.

Speaking of Iraq, Globalization seems to be rearing its ugly head again. I sure hope all you Boot-in-the-Ass Americans who supporting the senseless invasion of Iraq are glad to know all those American soldiers died or came back maimed or otherwise damaged by the "conflict" in Iraq sacrificed so that the GLOBAL petrochemical industry could benefit.

Not that American firms aren't benefiting as well. Especially if you are a personal friend of George W. Not that he knows anything about it.

Wait, am I supposed to be talking about food this month?

Suddenly, I lost my appetite.